George RR Martin’s works are long-awaited, whether it is a new spin-off or a new addition to the A Song of Ice and Fire series. He has been working on The Winds of Winter for the best part of 10 years, and fans are desperate to read it. A new post on Martin’s website, however, suggests he may have something on the go which could slow his progress.

On Not A Blog, Martin’s website, he posted a story about his love for trains, sharing an adorable story from his childhood.

He wrote: “We lived in an apartment when I was a kid, in the federal housing projects on First Street in Bayonne, New Jersey. We did not have much money, and we did not have much room.

“One Christmas, I decided I wanted a set of Lionel electric trains. Santa brought them to me, good guy that he was.”

Martin discovered these trains were hand-me-downs, and he continued to dream of getting better ones before these were sadly taken from him to give to a younger cousin “unaccountably.”

This clearly sparked a love of trains in him, which has helped him in his new project.

He continued: “Perhaps these experiences during my formative childhood years gave me a deep-buried case of Train Lust…

“Whatever the reason, yeah, it’s true. I bought a new train set. Well, me and a couple of friends and partners, Bill Banowsky of Violet Crown Cinema, and Catherine Oppenheimer of the New Mexico School for the Arts.

“All three of us are involved in Santa Fe’s resurgent Railyard neighbourhood, at the heart of which is the old, defunct Santa Fe Southern Railroad, which hasn’t run regularly for years.

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“The SFSR only ran eighteen miles, from just behind my theatre the Jean Cocteau down to the old historic depot in Lamy, New Mexico. But it was a great fun ride once upon a time, and Bill and Catherine and I think it could be a great fun ride again.”

Martin explained how he plans to revive this train set, and it clearly will be a labour of love for him given he “train lust.”

He added: “It is going to take a lot of work, more than a few bucks, and a fair amount of time to get the railroad running again.

“There are tracks and trestles to inspect and repair, old historic coaches to restore to their former splendour, a dead locomotive to bring back to life. And the coronavirus has slowed the process way down.

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“But sooner or later, we do hope to have the old Lamy Line chuffing and puffing once again, and we have all sorts of fun ideas for the future, live music and murder mysteries and train robberies and escape rooms and… well, we shall see.

“And best of all, we won’t need to pull up the tracks when Christmas is over.”

Fans will be concerned about another new project which could derail Martin’s progress with The Winds of Winter, given he is also a producer on new HBO Game of Thrones spin-offs and editing his Wild Cards stories.

However, he has promised he will continue to work hard on The Winds of Winter regardless of his other projects.

Back in April, he said: “The only thing I am writing myself is The Winds of Winter, as I have said many times… but with my producer’s hat on, I am still involved in a number of exciting new shows for HBO, and a few film projects as well. “

Even earlier, he said: “If there is a silver lining in these clouds [of coronavirus], this will give me more time to finish Winds of Winter. I continue to write every day, up here in my mountain fastness.”

Clearly he is focused on this as his only writing project, and regardless of his other work, his aim is to get it finished as soon as possible.

Needless to say, fans will be desperate to get their hands on the book the moment it is finished.